In the construction of a grammatically correct sentence in the American English language, each sentence has two main components. Those are the subject and the predicate. The subject is just that: It is the subject or topic of the sentence. The predicate contains the verb and all of the verb modifiers as well as the object of the sentence. These basic structures can be broken down even further.By
. necessity the subject contains a noun or pronoun. This word is considered to be the simple subject. The simple subject is the unmodified topic of the sentence. It is the simple subject that does the verb, or action word, and that initiates that action on, to, or in the direction of the object of the sentence. The object is also a noun or pronoun.The simple subject can usually be easily identified. It is likely to be the earliest noun or pronoun in a sentence. It may be modified by adjectival forms or phrases. It will never be contain within an introductory clause, however. In imperative statements, those taking the form of " [verb] [object]" such as " Get over here," the simple subject is the implied pronoun " you."The following sentence will be broken down for analysis of the simple subject. " When I first came to this country the first thing I ate was a pancake." This particular sentence begins with the introductory clause " [w]hen I first came to this country" and therefore does not contain the simple subject. The rest of the subject is " the first thing I ate" followed by the main verb of the sentence " was" and the object " a pancake." Within the rest of the subject, " I ate" is a relative clause with the missing relative pronoun " which." This clause modifies the preceding now " thing" which is modified by the article " the" and the adjective " first." Thus thing is the simple subject of the sentence.Additional explanations of simple subjects along with practice worksheets can be found in English textbooks as well as on numerous teacher resource websites and other English education based sites. More reference links: http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/subjectpredicate/simple-subjects.pdf http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subject.htm
